In accordance with a pact allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain, the United Nations said that inspections of departure vessels commenced on Tuesday. Moscow has threatened to withdraw from the deal on May 18 due to hurdles to its own grain and fertilizer shipments.
On Sundays and Mondays, no ships were inspected coming or going.
The global food crisis, which has been exacerbated by Moscow’s war in Ukraine, prompted the United Nations and Turkey to forge the Black Sea export pact in July. A Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul is responsible for putting the agreement into action, and its members come from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the United Nations.
“The JCC has confirmed that inspections have resumed today on outbound vessels,” Farhan Haq, the deputy U.N. spokesperson, said.
The four parties’ highest-ranking representatives will have talks this week in Istanbul. Russia has stated that it will not request a further extension of the accord beyond May 18 unless a number of conditions are met to facilitate Russian exports of grain and fertilizer.
Haq confirmed that Martin Griffiths, the U.N.’s humanitarian relief chief, was on his way to Istanbul.
On Tuesday, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that talks leading up to the meeting scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday had been “positive.”
Akar told Haberturk, a Turkish news outlet, that on May 18 “we will be working to continue the grains deal without allowing for any stoppage or cessation.”
The United Nations and Russia agreed to help expedite grain exports from Ukraine via the Black Sea in July as part of a three-year arrangement.
While the Western sanctions implemented after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine do not apply to these exports from Russia, Moscow claims that constraints on payments, logistics, and insurance prevent delivery.
In a letter excerpted by Reuters last month, Russia informed its JCC counterparts that it would not allow any new vessels for participation in the Black Sea deal unless the transits would be completed by May 18 – “the expected date of… closure.”
The JCC has not approved any new vessels since Thursday.
